Middle School
Grades 6-8
As our students enter the Middle Grades, they’ve already started on their path to becoming talented musicians, artists, writers, and scientists. Now, they’ll continue their lessons on world languages and cultures. Furthermore, students will start to expand their view on scientific concepts through experimentation and exploration of hypotheses.
Grade 6
Sixth-graders enter a time when the inner light of reason and the outer world of sense-perceptions become central to their experience. This is mirrored in the study of history from ancient Rome through the Middle Ages; deepened and developed through business math and geometry; and integrated through studies in physics, mineralogy, and astronomy. Their knowledge of math, reading, writing, spelling, composition, and grammar is woven holistically throughout the curriculum.
Grade 7
Moving toward adolescence, the seventh-grader’s own experiences of transformation are reflected in the Renaissance, creative writing, geometry, algebra and chemistry. Their interest in discovery is met with studies of the Age of Exploration and with primary experiences of physical science. Ready to see the world—and themselves—in new ways, the students work with perspective drawing, world geography and physiology.
Grade 8
By the eighth grade year, the students and teacher have formed a class community where lessons are thoughtfully discussed and connections to the outside world are made. This final year enables the children to enter fully into the life of their own time. History, therefore, is an intensive study of the industrial revolution to the modern day, focusing on biography and delving into American history. Physics, meteorology, and chemistry complement these historical and geographical surveys with practical knowledge. Math emphasizes the practical applications of arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, and human beings are again the subject of nature study through the study of anatomy. Literature focuses on the theme of human freedom in the short story and the Shakespearean drama.